Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Darling Girl by Liz Michalski

23 reviews

qteabeans's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This felt like all the worst parts of a fan fiction. A flat read and only just barely not a DNF. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Child abuse

bedtimesandbooks's review

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Car accident, Child death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Drug use, Alcohol, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Incest and Pedophilia

em_n_ay's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Don’t waste your time. It’s just another Peter Pan story that tried to be different by making itself really dark and “gritty”. Kept reading because I thought the ending would have a payoff. It didn’t. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Kidnapping, and Death

threadsof_kate's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Drug use, and Child abuse

logger_j's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I did not really like this book unfortunately. Im not sure if I just didn't get most of the story, because im not super familiar with the original Peter Pan story, or if this was just a very out there retelling. Overall I was just very confused most of the time, and I thought that the story was boring because of this. 

I found all of the characters expect for Jane, to be very annoying. Jane was supposed to be the strict, old fashioned, unlikeable character, but I feel like she was the only one with common sense and MANNERS. oh my god everyone in this book was so rude. I seriously got PISSED OFF when

Holly yelled and tried to FIRE nan for something that was absolutely in no way Nan's fault.

 

I also thought that some parts of the story were just completely uanessacry and just dragged the story along. for instance

Elliots whole character was just completely unnecessary when he just gets fired in the end because he was going to expose holly for all of the messed up experiments she was doing on her children.

And considering that Barry was supposed to be her best friend, he kind of sucked at it.

Overall the most confusing part was the ending. I  still have no idea why Jane went to Neverland. I mean I kind of know why Eden went, because she would have died otherwise, but it kind of seemed like Jane went just because she didn't want to be old again. Also it was kind of strange that Jane was so obsessed and loved Peter Pan her entire life and then all of the sudden couldn't care less about him because her daughter (who is very untrustworthy at this point) says that he raped her. And in the end when it is reviled that Holly and Christopher are kind of together, I just feel like there was no chemistry or anything leading up to that point. I feel like it was another thing just added to make the story longer, and add more connections to maybe the original story? but I don't even know.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Car accident, Torture, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

danileah07's review

dark slow-paced

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Drug use

Moderate: Child death and Child abuse

brittanythebooklady's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Short summary - 
Holly Darling, granddaughter of Wendy from the Peter Pan story has been through a lot in her lifetime, suffering much tragedy. Her children are challenged as well, to say the least. When one of them disappears, her mind immediately goes to Peter Pan, someone from her dark past. Will she be able to find her daughter again? To what extent will she sacrifice what she has to protect both of her children? 

Overall review - 
Interesting dark retelling of Peter Pan. Be sure to check out the trigger warnings for this book before reading. While I was relatively entertained by the story, it was really an outrageous tale, including lots of far-fetched story elements. Parts of the story were confusing and a bit difficult for me to follow too, but perhaps that’s because I’m not 100% solid on the original Peter Pan story. So while I have mixed reviews of this book, I think many others would enjoy it. 

Overall rating 3.75 ⭐️, rounded up to 4⭐️ for Goodreads 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Grief, Addiction, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Self harm, Child death, Death, Drug use, Rape, and Terminal illness

laurennnn1066's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Murder, Medical content, Terminal illness, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Death, Car accident, Mental illness, Rape, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

jingwei's review

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

0.5

I am really surprised a lot of people enjoyed this book so much. I adore Peter Pan, and have really enjoyed other dark renditions of the story. I got ads for this book for weeks, so I finally tried it. But this book felt like it was trying to be ‘edgy’ without really earning it. Also, the MC is so insufferable. And so is the second act.

If I had a nickel for every time the plot revolved around phone calls, I could probably buy the hardcover version of this book brand new.

The other characters are so flat. Only reason I gave a half star is for Jane. 

Also, if you don’t want to read the direct action of the climax of the book, this book is for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Drug use, Child abuse, and Drug abuse

Minor: Domestic abuse

chelregel's review

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Man I destroyed this book in minutes! It was so good, and so quick. Also a very dark adaptation of Peter Pan, so be warned. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Violence

Minor: Child abuse